It’s Time to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park

Key U.S. Senators ask Major League Baseball and players' union to prohibit tobacco

Posted by: Editor | Feb 15, 2011

With spring training for the 2011 season about to begin, two U.S. senators have formally called on Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to prohibit the use of all tobacco products on the field, in the dugout and in locker rooms at MLB venues.

"We now know conclusively that smokeless tobacco endangers the health of baseball players who use it, but it also affects millions of young people who watch baseball," the senators wrote. "The use of smokeless tobacco by b aseball players undermines the positive image of the sport and sends a dangerous message to young fans, who may be influenced by the players they look up to as role models."

In November, ten major medical and public health groups wrote to Selig and Weiner, asking the league and the union to prohibit tobacco in the contract that is to take effect in 2012.

A House subcommittee held a hearing on the use of smokeless tobacco in baseball last year, and the widespread, on-camera use of chewing tobacco during the 2010 World Series drew significant public attention. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn's recent cancer diagnosis — and his public comments attributing his disease to years of chewing tobacco — have underscored the seriousness of the problem.

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